Thailand may change capital over floods

Thailand may change capital over floods

After floods inundated parts of Thailand's capital, lawmakers have submitted a motion to start discussion over shifting the capital city to a safer place.

Twenty lawmakers "submitted a motion to parliament to seek approval to set up a committee," Sataporn Maneerat, a Puea Thai party MP, told AFP on Tuesday. 

The committee will "consider whether the capital should be moved or if Thailand should have a second capital," he added. 

"The capital will face more and more problems from natural disasters and the environment," Maneerat said, adding that the current capital was "over its peak." 

He said the main alternative options for relocating the kingdom's political and economic heartland were in eastern and northeastern provinces. 

At least 562 people have been killed across the country in the country's worst floods in half a century. 

The downtown area of the capital remains dry after efforts by authorities to divert the waters.